Marchand Pots Natural Hat Trick as Bruins Rally Past Blue Jackets

BOSTON -- Brad Marchand scored a natural hat trick in the third period for the Boston Bruins, who rallied for a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden on Sunday.

The Bruins entered the third period trailing 1-0, but Marchand scored three goals in a span of 5:50 to lift Boston to its third win in a row.

“We’re so confident in this group going into third periods,” Marchand said. “We’ve shown that over the last couple years how we don’t quit, we play right to the end. We knew if we continued to play the way we were that we were going to at least get one [goal] and potentially more. We just had that belief again tonight that we could come back, and it’s great we did.”

Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves for Boston (17-4-3), and Charlie McAvoy had two assists in his 400th NHL game.

“I thought we were trying to be either too cute offensively, and we thought we had options,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think we did a better job of [having] the first defenseman that got the puck shooting it with two men inside … and trying to look for some garbage goals. We ended up with pretty goals, but I thought the first five minutes set the tone for that.”

Jenner gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the second period, jamming the puck past Swayman on a feed in front from Mathieu Olivier. Marchand tied it 1-1 at 1:56 of the third period on a one-timer from the right circle. He then scored a wrist shot from the slot on the power play to give Boston a 2-1 lead at 5:37.

“We switch [David Pastrnak] and [Marchand] so they can go on their forehand,” McAvoy said, regarding power-play adjustments. “It’s nice to break through, and then you get an opportunity there at the end, and now we’re up 2-1, and it’s sort of like, you know, let’s deliver that final blow.”

The Bruins captain completed his hat trick with another power-play goal at 7:46, scoring from the left circle off a pass from Pavel Zacha to make it 3-1.

“It’s a big response, especially losing to these guys last time [5-2 on Nov. 27] on the back-to-back,” Swayman said. “I think it was really special for us to get our legs early and stay on top of them all three periods, and I just think morale is going to be in a good place moving forward, and I think we left it all out there.”

NOTES: Marchand scored his sixth career hat trick and his first natural hat trick. Only two other Bruins skaters have recorded a natural hat trick in the past 10 years: Patrice Bergeron (Nov. 4, 2021 & Jan. 6, 2018) and Jake DeBrusk (Feb. 28, 2022). … Marchand scored three goals in a span of 5:50. The last Bruins player to record a hat trick in a shorter span of time was Martin Lapointe on March 13, 2003 (5:15).